Machine foe



ELIAS BUTNMI, oF. DANv-ERs, MAssAeHUsnrTs.

' `ivraoi-=rrirn Lron .snLr'r'rING soLE AND OTHER LEATHER.

(Specification. of Letters Patent No.

To all whom, t may concern Be it known that I, lELIAS PUTNAM, o-fDanvers, in the county ofEssex and Commonwealth of Massachusetts,esquire, a `free citizen ofthe UnitedStates, ,have invented a new anduseful machine called a Machine for Slitting Sole and other Pieces ofLeather, of which' the following is atrue and exact description.

` I take the machine well known among shoemakers as the machine forrolling 0rpressing leather andadd to it a knife-so arranged that afterthe leather has been pressed between the rollers it shall be propelledby them against the edge of the knife and thus split to any desiredthickness. The

old machine with my knife added so as to make my new splitting machineis shown in the drawing annexedthus- A is thefront of the frame of themachine and is of wood, two inches thick, sixteen inches wideand thirtyinches high.

B is the back end of the machine of the same material and dimensions asthe front.

C and D are the two side pieces of the frame of the machine. They are ofcast iron and each is 6 inches wide, 40 inches long, and 1 inch thickand they are firmly secured to the front and back pieces of the machine.

E is a cylindrical roller of smooth ironcalled the upper roller. It is16 inches long, 3 inches inv diameter and its axes revolve in twosemicircular uprights of metal, 1 inch thick, which'are Vto be screwedto the edges of the side pieces C and D so as to form part ofthe framework and so that their inside faces may be in the sameperpendicularplane with the inside faces of the side `pieces C and D. On one of .theaxes of the roller E, fis secured the cogwheel'M, which is ofl castiron, one foot in diameter.` Immediately underthis roller and in alperendicular line with it and parallel `to it horizontally, revolvesanother roller (F) of the same material and dimensions-and the1,o1o,dated ivdvenflbeiq 2o, 1838.

wheels K, and W, areeach of cast iron or other metaland are each 211iinches in diit `interlocks with another cog wheel of it" interlocks withanother cog wheel of its its own size, attached to the outside of theside piece D, at a point correspondent with thenut O on the side pieceC, which nut in "fact receives thebolt on which, as an axle,

this wheel nut seen in the drawing revolves in the same perpendicularplane with W and N, and interlocks with and gives motion to the wheel N.At Rand at S, are two perpendicular slits or openings in the uprights,2g; inches wide and four inches long, in eachof which slides, -ontongues and grooves perpendicularly, a nut inches squareiand one inchthick and through the center of each of these a hole one inch indiameter is `drilled in which the axes of the upper roller revolve.Under each of these nuts or boxes Vand in the perpendicular slits oropenings is fixed a Vspiral spring of steel wire powerful enough topush, by its own elasticity, the nut with its axle inserted to the topof the perpendicular slit or opening and thus to raise the upper roller.

P and Q, are male screws which pass perpendicularly `through femalescrews in the' top of the uprights H and G and press upon the upper edgeof the nuts in which the roller revolves, so that by turning down thesescrews the nuts are pressed down upon thespiral springs whichyield andlet down the nuts and with them the upper roller and by turning up thesescrews, the nuts, relieved from their pressure, are forcedup by theelasticity of the spiral springs beneath them.

U is a lever of metal 1 inch square and about VVthirty inches longvsuspended on a pivot V, which is its fulcrum and is xed to the sidepiece C. One end of `it rests under the axle T, which turns andirevolves in a slit or perpendicular opening inthe side piece C, of thesame width as the diameter of the axle-z'. e.` about 1 inchand whichisabout two linches long so that this lower roller also as well as theupper may have a perpendicular motion and be made to approach or recedefrom the upper roller. A corresponding lever is applied in precisely thesame manner to a corresponding point on the outside of the side-piece D,and rests in the same manner under the other axle of the roller (F),which axle also revolves in 'a similar openingpin the side piece D.These two levers thus arranged Yare fastened and connected togetherV bya cross bar (5), and this bar A(5) is hooked at its middle point by twosmall links to another lever X, at a point about 6 inches from the backend B of the frameA I add a knife Z, which is 5 inches wide, lli

or 2 inches thick, beveled down to an edge.

Figure II is an enlarged drawing of the knife. I also apply to theinsides of the side pieces two corresponding slides or projections ofmetal one of which is shown at Y and extends from near the intersticebetween the rollers diagonally, or at an angle of about 10 degrees withthe horizon, along the side piece to the'back piece. On these slides theknife is laid with its beveled edge up. l/Vhen it is wished to use themachine for rolling alone, the knife is permitted to slide down on theslides so that its back edge rests against the back of the machine. When the machine is to be used for splitting as well as rolling, I slidethe knife up to the interstice between the rollers and then secure itfor the time, by means of two corresponding screws one of which is shownat (2) which passes through a female screw in a shoulder, which I havefor this purpose attached to the side piece D. There is of course asimilar and corresponding shoulder and screw attached to the side pieceC' at a corresponding point. These screws detain the knife in its placeat any desired distance from the rollers by simply pressing against itsblade.

. The operation of the whole machine with my knife attached is asfollows: The operator stands in front facing the rollers, with his righthand on the crank L. With the other hand he applies the leather to besplit to the interstice between the rollers. By turning the crank heturns all the cog Vwheels, and the cylinders revolve, each in oppositedirections, and both toward the edge of the knife, and drawing theleather between them by their revolution, they press it against the edgeof the knife, and splitting it the upper portion split off passes above,and the lower part below the knife.

The part which passes above'the knife will be of such thickness asVv theinterstice between the edge of the knife and the face of the upperroller willV allow,l and this intersticev can be increased ordiminishedby means of the screws P and Q. The weight suspendedV from the point (7)on the end of the lever X will tend to draw down the bar (5) and thus todepress the long'arms of the sideY levers :attached to it, and the shortarms of these side levers will thus be made to elevate the axes yof thelower roller and press it against the upper roller and against any pieceof leather, which may be inserted between them, and this pressure, beingonly made by the'suspended weight (7) will be the same or nearly so uponeach piece of leather and upon every part of the same piece howeverthick it may be. rlhis pressure may of course be increased or diminishedby the application of a greater or a less weight.

The whole machine' and all or any of its parts may be made of greater orsmaller dimensions as may be found to suit the convenience of theemployer of it. The knife may be made smaller and thinner and may thenbe stiffened by the application of a plate of cast iron screwed to itsflat surface. The aXes of the upper roller may be made to revolve instationary holes instead of sliding nuts and the thickness of the -upperportion of the leather split off may be regu.

lated and graduated by screws which shall elevate or depress the knife.The uprights, which I have described as screwed to the edges of the sidepieces, may be cast of metal with the side pieces and inseparable fromthem.V Vhat I claim as new and my invention 1s- The application of aknife to the interstice between two rollers in such a manner that piecesof leather may be propelled against the knife by the revolution and pressure of the rollers Vand vmay be thus pressed and split at the sametime.

loo

In testimony whereof I hereto subscribe my name at said Danvers in thepresence ofV the witnesses whose names Vare subscribed on the eighth ofAugust A. D. 1838.

` VELIAS PUTNAM.

Vitnesses: n

SYLvANUs DODGE, JOSHUA N. WARD.

